Ave wins the Flower Bowl Invitational

ELMONT – Ave overcame traffic trouble and a very slow pace to make a strong late run after splitting horses in deep stretch and win the Grade 1 Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes by a head Saturday at Belmont.

Ave, ridden to victory by Javier Castellano, completed the 1 ¼-mile race in 2:08.54, more than 10 seconds off the track record for the distance.

“It was very exciting at the end, wasn’t it?” said Roger Attfield, who trained the winner. “I knew the course would be soft and it as obviously going to be a dawdle, but I didn’t think it would bother her.”

Castellano said the slow pace – the first six furlongs went in a glacial 1:19.19 – gave him a few anxious moments. “I was a little bit worried coming for home because of the way the race developed, and fortunate that my filly responded well.

Changing Skies was second and Red Desire, the Japanese invader sent off as the 9-5 favorite, weakened to finish third.

The Great Britain-bred Ave, who did not race at Saratoga this year, had made four starts in the U.S. since her first American race in May. Before coming to the United States, she won a Grade 3 stakes in August 2009.